Indian Copper Corporation was set up in 1924 and a plant was set up at Ghatsila in Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The Hindustan Copper Ltd. came into being in 1967. It took over Indian Copper Corporation in 1972. Since then the Hindustan Copper Ltd. is the sole producer of copper in the country.

At present, copper is produced at only two centres. One is located at Maubhandar near Ghatshila in Singhbhum district (Jharkhand) and the other at Khetri in Jhunjhunu district (Rajasthan). The smelter at Maubhandar (Ghatshila) receives copper ore from Mosabani, Rakha, Dhobani Rajdah, Tamapahar and Turamdih.

All these areas are located in Singhbhum district. It was the only producer of copper till 1971 and it produced about 9.3 thousand tonnes of copper annually. The smelting unit has been replaced by blaster copper unit with a capacity of about thirty thousand tonnes. HCL plans to double its capacity at a marginal cost.

The Khetri Copper Complex at Khetri has been erected by Hindustan Copper Ltd. It is an integrated copper mining-cum-metallurgical plant. The smelter was commissioned for large scale production of electrolytic copper in 1974. It receives copper ore from Khetri, Kolihan (5 km south of Khetri), Chandmari (8 km south of Khetri) and Dariba in Alwar district about 150 km away.

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The copper smelter at Khetri has an installed capacity of 31,000 tonnes of copper metal per year. HCL plans to expand its capacity from 31,000 tonnes per annum to one lakh tonnes per annum at an estimated cost of Rs 560 crore.

The plant also has a production capacity of 2 lakh tonnes of super phosphates and 1.82 lakh tonnes of sulphuric acid per annum. The Malanjkhand mines in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh supplement the supply of copper ore to Khetri. For treatment of Malanjkhand concentrates the capacity of smelter and refinery plants at Khetri have been increased to 45,000 tonnes per annum. Agnigundala Copper-Lead project in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh is coming up at a fast rate.

Sterile Industries is a private sector company which uses imported copper concentrates to produce cathodes. Its smelting plant was commissioned at Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) in 1997-98. The initial capacity of this plant was 60,000 tonnes which was raised to about 1.5 lakh tonnes in 2000-01. During 1997-98, this plant produced 21,000 tonnes of anodes (unrefined copper).

Birla Copper Ltd. is a division of Indo-Gulf Fertilisers which has set-up a copper project at Dahej in Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,850 crore. Its initial capacity was 1 lakh tonnes which was raised to 1.5 lakh tonnes later on. The smelter is based on imported copper concentrates.

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Swil Copper Ltd. is setting up a plant at Bharuch in Gujarat under the technical assistance from Boliden of Sweden. The plant has an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes and is based on copper scrap. Most of the copper scrap will be received from the USA, African countries and the Asia Pacific Region.

Table 27.16 shows that the production of copper increased substantially after 1970-71 when the Khetri copper complex became operative. The production reached a peak of 56.3 thousand tonnes in 1993-94 and then fell to 38.3 thousand tonnes in 1996-97.

Table 27.16 Production of Blister Copper (Virgin Metal):

Year

1950-

51

1960-

61

1970-

71

1980-

81

1990-

91

1991-

92

1992-

93

1993-

94

1994-

95

1995-

96

1996-

97

1997-

98

1998-

99

Production in thousand tonnes

7.1

9.0

9.3

25.3

40.6

45.1

47.0

56.3

45.6

45.3

38.3

43.7

37.7

A marginal recovery made in 1997-98 could not sustain and the production again fell to 37.7 thousand tonnes in 1998-99. India’s per capita copper consumption is ridiculously low at around 250 gm. The red metal’s usage is regarded as a reliable indicator of economic growth in the industrial community as it has a variety of sophisticated applications. However, the consumption rate is likely to increase with the overall industrial growth in the country. The surge in demand has attracted investments from the private sector.

Imports:

Presently, India produces only half of her requirements of copper and the remaining half is imported. The main suppliers of copper to India are Zambia, Zaire, Chile, the USA, Canada and some West European countries.

Table 27.17 shows the trends of copper imports in India.

Table 27.17 Import of Copper and Alloys Refined or Refined Unwrought:

Year

1990-91

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

Quantity (’000 tonnes)

72

138

1,062

50

15

10

16

Value (Rs. lakh)

34,867

1,18,644

44,354

34,808

14,962

8,633

13,578

The above table shows that the maximum imports were recorded in 1998-99. After that, imports were drastically reduced.